On the Wind Sailing

Gunnar Christensen is a career yacht captain and racing sailor who is in the midst of pivoting to sail solo, nonstop around the world in the upcoming Golden Globe Race. Gunnar and I talked about his origins as a sailor in New England, his varied career on yachts and racing boats and about the prep on his Bob Perry-designed boat for the round-the-world voyage. Gunnar is the first guest we've had on the show who came to record in-person at the new Mission Control in Sweden! Follow his progress in the GGR at gunnarsails.com.
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Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there!
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This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Conrad Humphries is a career sailor and his adventures have truly run the gamut. He's done everything from Whitbread round-the-world racing to re-enacting the famous voyage of Captain Bligh for a BBC television series. I was connected to him through a mutual friend while Conrad was skippering the racing yacht HOUND, one of my all-time favorite boats (look it up!). Despite his love for sailing fast, Conrad actually bought the replica BOUNTY launch after the filming and sails it on the southwest coast of the UK. Check out his latest adventures on http://bountyandhope.com/
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Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there!
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This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Ben Doerr, friend of the pod, of Sail Bainbridge out in Seattle, returns to the show to talk about a near-miss he and his friends had recently in Alaska. On what should have been Day 1 of their latest Sail 2 Ski adventure, a mile or so outside the harbor the boat caught fire in the engine room. Thanks to some quick-thinking and a lot of good luck, they managed to save the boat, did no harm to the crew, and even managed to get in some skiing later in the week. This is the story.
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Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there!
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This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Most sailors obsess over boat gear and weather routing — but Andy Schell argues the single most important factor in a successful offshore passage is something almost nobody talks about: your mental state. Drawing on marathon training philosophy, solo circumnavigation stories, and his own mid-Atlantic spiritual awakening, this seminar reframes ocean sailing as an emotional journey with predictable stages — and teaches you how to navigate each one. This episode was originally recorded as a live seminar back in 2014, before 59º North was even a thing. You can read the full transcript and learn about Andy's insights, what has changed in the 12 years since first published this, and more as a Quarterdeck member!
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Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there!
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This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

When Matt first went around the America's in his Albin Vega in 2011 (becoming the first and only person, still to this day, to do it solo and nonstop), he didn't have a radar despite all the icebergs. "I'd also rather have a Valiant 42"! he'd joke when people asked about it. Well, now he does! Matt is about to set forth on another epic adventure, aiming to circumnavigate the Arctic, above the Northwest & NorthEAST passages, on a Valiant 42 on loan from a friend (and 59º North crew I should add). I talked to Matt, with our mutual friend Ryan Finstad in attendance, in Annapolis two weeks ago to get an update.
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Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there!
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This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!